The Election Commission has directed field officials in Assam to thoroughly review the state’s electoral rolls for irregularities, following widespread social media claims that voter lists in Bihar had mistakenly included photographs of cats and dogs. In response to these concerns, the Commission has instructed its staff to identify and correct “non-human,” inadequate, or missing photographs in Assam’s voter database. The directive emphasises the need for software-generated reports that flag entries with black-and-white photographs, images that do not meet technical specifications, non-human images, and entries with no photograph at all.
To fix these discrepancies, the Commission said booth-level officers (BLOs) must conduct on-ground verification. Electors with faulty or missing images will be required to submit Form-8 along with a compliant photograph, and BLOs must maintain a detailed record of every replacement. Officials added that BLOs are also authorised to directly capture photographs of voters during field visits when necessary.
In addition to addressing image-related issues, the Election Commission stressed that any discrepancies, logical errors, and potential duplicate or multiple entries in the electoral roll must be removed before the draft roll is published. This includes standardising voter addresses and checking the quality of all photographs to ensure uniformity. The Commission also clarified concerns surrounding the use of notional house numbers, explaining that these numbers are purely administrative and do not affect the legal status of any property. Their sole purpose is to group electors from the same household into the same polling station during rationalisation. BLOs must record nearby landmarks along with notional numbers to ensure households can be clearly identified during inquiries.
The scrutiny comes after social media users circulated posts suggesting that people in Bihar had used pictures of pets to expose loopholes in the system during a special intensive revision of the voters’ list. In Assam, the Election Commission ordered a “Special Revision” of electoral rolls on November 17, with the final voter list scheduled for release on February 10, 2026. According to the poll panel, January 1, 2026, will serve as the qualifying date for additions and corrections under this revision.
Officials explained that the special revision falls between a regular annual summary revision and a Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Unlike earlier methods that relied on enumeration forms, BLOs will now verify electors through pre-filled registers. The senior functionary noted that because Assam has unique citizenship-verification requirements—currently being scrutinised under the supervision of the Supreme Court—the Commission opted for a special revision instead of a full-scale SIR. The ongoing verification process, nearing completion, is a key factor behind this decision.
